Free Home grown software for all of you

[douglasw32]

I cleared this with PA since it does have a Donation Link to paypal.

I just figure if it helps someone hit a pick 6 you might share =)

I have worked for over 2 years learning to program access and then visual basic, almost every hurdle I hit was solved for me through this board.

I use this along with the DRF (it uses Bris or TSN 50c files)

if anyone wants it you can get it here.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

it is self contained (move the folder anywhere), it will run on windows but you may need.

(dot) net
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en
and/or

VB runtimes
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192461

You click on the self extracting zip file, open the folder it makes and click on the .exe to run it.

it has an unfinished (rough) help file but it should all make sense pretty easily.

Thanks Pat for Beta testing this for me !

[Wickel]

Doug, I clicked on the first link and downloaded it to my desktop. Tried to download the second link, but received an error message and it wouldn't let me complete the task; and download the third link to my desktop. When I went to the desktop to click on the software and the third item nothing happened. As you probably have guessed, I'm not too technical when it comes to computers. For us novices, could you give a blow-by-blow on how to download the software and get it running. By the way, I have a pc with windows xp. Thanks in advance.

[douglasw32]

The key phrase on the last 2 links (Sorry for the confusion)

"you may need"

If you download FAST.exe (Virus free I promise) ;) that should be the only thing you need.

And simply click on it to run it and click on the INSTALL button. it will extract to a FOLDER on your desktop (Or wherever you downloaded it to on your PC)

Open that folder it produces named FAST , and you will see " FAST PPs.exe " that will launch the program when clicked.

From that point follow steps 1,2 and 3 in the program window(and the optional ones, scratches are explained in the HELP file) a link to that is on the top of the program window.

Hope that helps make heads or tails of it if not let me know and we can try going over it a different way.

If you got the FAST.exe to your desktop and clicking (or double clicking) does nothing that is very odd? It should look like a yellow box with a stack of books in it and an arrow on the box...when clicked you should be promted with RUN or Cancel, click RUN then INSTALL.

[douglasw32]

Here is a link to the programs output for TAMPA today.

http://localpcpros.com/racedata.htm

[douglasw32]

The KEY to the program is the final number in the horses PP box (bottom right)

Higher the better (+) means FIT and READY.

I Look no further than the TOP 4.

[douglasw32]

Race #1 that would be
#5 (99+)
#2 with a 74
#8 (72)
# 9 (71)

Looks like the 2 and 5 may hook up early 5 getting the best of it.

The 9 could come up short off the long rest and the 7% at sprints stat for the trainer.

I will be taking a stab with the #8 Cheechie Bay.

[douglasw32]

Okay so that one did not work out =)
Hope I at least explained it.

[levinmpa]

Douglas. Thanks so much for making this available for board members to download. I have hundreds of old TSN .eg files that I can use to play with it. Any chance of putting a legend or key together showing what the various fields in the output are? Most of the output is self explanatory. I'm just curious about what some of the various numbers or ratings are.

Thanks again....ML

[douglasw32]

I sure will try...if you have a bunch of files I would be real interested in past derby's ?


If you have them and run them...


BTW, I had initially uploaded an older version (the final version is there now so just to be safe everyone should redownload it)

[Wickel]

I got everything squared away. Thanks a bunch Doug.

[douglasw32]

http://localpcpros.com/LEGEND.pdf

Not the best job, not in order really...but it is all in there, with 4 kids 1 yr to 7 yrs...getting anything done comes out like this =)

[cloud9]

What dose number 31 mean by Low, Medium, or Hig Early Foot ? and What dose ES after Low, Med, Hig stand for in 31 ?

[douglasw32]

31= ES is just a label (Early Speed)
Helps me read the sheet off to the wife acros the room =)

All of it is off of the Quirin ES Points.

If I remember I set it up as 0,1 or 2 your L (low) 3,4 or 5 Medium or M
and 6,7, or 8 H (high)

[douglasw32]

Anyone who downloaded the program...after getting a number of Kentucky Derby's from the past emailed to me ;)

I tweaked the F.A.S.T. power figure.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

Is the newer version.

[John]

Anyone who downloaded the program...after getting a number of Kentucky Derby's from the past emailed to me ;)

I tweaked the F.A.S.T. power figure.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

Is the newer version.


Thanks for shareing Douglasw. It's appreciated

:) :) :)

[Donnie]

Douglas--
first, thanks for the sharing!
second, I have to ask = your last post seems to imply that you tweaked your program based on past run KY Derbies. Is this accurate? Will this make it more effective for the Derby, which in my opinion is more of a rodeo than a horserace, and less effective in day-in day-out horseracing? Or has your tweaking made it an all around more effective number? Just wondering out loud.
All the best!

[cloud9]

douglus32 , In your sample report in

Race #2 for 3 Year Olds And Up, Clm 16000, going 6.0f, on Dirt for BEAU'S VALENTINE you have this for the score E |L-es 103 . If the horse running style is early ( E ) then how can you score the horse with L -ES ( LOW -EARLY SPEED ) ? In other words how can the horse that is in front early in his resent races have low early speed ? Don't make scents to me .

[chrisl]

Cloud: read post #13 on page 1 of this topic. I think this will help.Chris

[cloud9]

Then how can a horse have an E ( early running style ) and only get an L ( low 1,2 or 3 early speed points . That don't look early to me .

[Partsnut]

Doug,

Thanks for sharing your work. I think it has lot's of merit and was nicely done.
It's an excellent tool and contender selector.

Hopefully, I can one day repay your kindness.

[douglasw32]

I was not very clear, The tweak was just that I had a ton of data to look through, I was sent the entire card for like the last 6 years of CD derby days.

It had little change on the derby...

Anytime I change anyhting, I compare it to as many of the "on form" days I have stored.

And yes I feel it made an improvement to the number or I would not put it in =) This is what I myself use to Bet each day.

AQU 8th today Killed me, if you look at the numbers you will see that =)

[douglasw32]

The (Low would be the Likelihood of getting the front) Quirin ES points are low...
E would be the style that wins.

If this one is in with other E's that have a better (liklihood) H-es then most likely a bad bet since it will be taken off of it's game.

IMHO

[douglasw32]

The (Low would be the Likelihood of getting the front) Quirin ES points are low...
E would be the style that wins.

If this one is in with other E's that have a better (liklihood) H-es then most likely a bad bet since it will be taken off of it's game.

IMHO

Chris has it correct and Thanks for the kind words Parts...

Only repay if it helps you score a life changer (JK):lol:

[douglasw32]

So I guess the hwole reason I released this was to see if the COMMUNITY could add to it ?

Social handicapping =)

So does anyone, HATE/LOVE certain format decisions, anyone want something not shown in the PP's to be added in, any "personal" Calculations anyone wants to share ?

Personally I want something else to fill the DONATION button on the main interface...not sure I like the whole donation thing.

ARe 3 races back good for everyone?

Etc Etc Etc,

You all have the floor.

[cloud9]

How can a horse earn an E for running style if the horse only had a low speed point score of 1,2, or 3 points for its quirin speed point total . Thats not a horse that can get up front very often . Still dont get it !

[ryesteve]

How can a horse earn an E for running style if the horse only had a low speed point score of 1,2, or 3 points for its quirin speed point total . Thats not a horse that can get up front very often . Still dont get it !
The running style designation relates to where the horse was during it's good races. So the E just means that the horse was near the front during those races. The speed points relate to where the horse during its recent races, regardless of whether they were good races or not. Also, I believe there are distance switch adjustments which could lower the speed points of a horse going from a route to a sprint.

[lsosa54]

ARe 3 races back good for everyone?



Doug; First of all, thank you for investing the time and putting yourself out there - not easy. The "3 races back" is where I'm running into problems in terms of my own personal evaluation. Not sure how that final # is calculated but would it be possible to base it on a single paceline or maybe two of one's choosing, plus whatever non paceline data is used for that final #? I'm thinking it might be too much work.

[douglasw32]

RyeSteve has it correct.

http://www.paceappraiser.com/

Good book on the subject from this guy.

[douglasw32]

Yes a ton of work, but anyone programming should have a "to-do" of things to shoot for.

The final number is not a big mystery, I would need to tear it apart to explain it in detail, but I would if anyone wants the details, and pace is not part of it, that is why I personnaly listed pace for 2f and late pace.

It also does not incorporate trainer or jockey, it is more or less an average speed figure with distance success, pedigree and current form adjustments put together.

How many races back, 3 was about all I look at to get contenders then move to the DRF... but it would be easy to allow the user to choose ???

Yeah I think I could pull it off where you can choose how many to go back, so if someone needs to save paper they can.

Let me work that one out, the other goes on the to-do list ! Thanks !

[cloud9]

The running style designation relates to where the horse was during it's good races. So the E just means that the horse was near the front during those races. The speed points relate to where the horse during its recent races, regardless of whether they were good races or not. Also, I believe there are distance switch adjustments which could lower the speed points of a horse going from a route to a sprint.I understand now . Thanks ryesteve and Douglasw32 .

[fight]

sir ty again for this wonerful program. my problem has been the scratches. i follow the instructions . but cant make it work. do the scratches change the bottom right #s if you could help id be thankful. ty fight :bang:

[douglasw32]

No the figure is independent of the other horses, scratching someone would not change it at all

The scratching is complicated, Basically you need the text file it opens to LIST in CAPS every horses name exactly as bris has it, with no commas, qoutes etc, 1 horse per line.

any horse in this list will not show up in the print out.

I would love to make it smoother but at this stage in my programming knowledge thats the best I got =(

[dartman51]

You have to put the horses in without the program number also. I got it to work just fine. My only reason to scratch is save paper and ink on printouts. Thanks again for the program.

[douglasw32]

Exactly, left that out of the explanation, thanks

[dartman51]

2009 KENTUCKY DERBY

Entrants as of Wed. April 29th 2009

PP HORSE RATING
6 Friesan Fire 102+
13 I Want Revenge 102+
15 Dunkirk 99+
16 Pioneer Of The Nile 97+
11 Chocolate Candy 93+
7 Papa Clem 92+
2 Musket Man 92+
3 Mr. Hot Stuff 86+
5 Hold Me Back 83+
1 West Side Bernie 83+
12 General Quarters 79+
4 Advice 75+
17 Summer Bird 73+
20 Flying Private 72+
14 Atomic Rain 66+
8 Mine That Bird 60+
9 Join The Dance 59+
19 Desert Party 38+
10 Regal Ransom 31+
18 Nowhere To Hide 48

[fight]

dart why do i get 129on friesan fire and 139 on iwant revenge what iam i missing?

[douglasw32]

WOW, sorry again =(

Not that it will change the final contenders much, BUT. some mistakes were pointed out etc and I added in some output changes (Mud and Turf, marks) and the ability to choose from 1-5, (it will be 10 eventually )past perf lines

This is ever evolving still (It is a BETA version)

go here and grab the latest one. http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe
The pdf for the derby to be sure everyone is on the latest version.
http://localpcpros.com/kdmine.pdf

I really do not plan on touching it much more (well I always say that)

Oh and I am cleaning up the "Source Code" to share with anyone who may want to program something like this in Visual Basic.

When I am done I will post it.

[douglasw32]

This is what I come up with.

PAPA CLEM

Friesen Fire
Dunkirk

I Want Revenge

Musket Man

5 Horse $1.00 Exacta Box $20.00

[dartman51]

I just now went to the site and downloaded the latest. When I run the program, I don't get the same numbers as you. The TOP 3 are #13 89d, #15 86d, #7 84d. Those same horses on your print out are #13 126d, #15 116d, and #7 113d. Are you using TSN or DRF, and would that make a difference?

[douglasw32]

Correct, the 50 cent TSN file does not include Pedigree figures and alters the "look" of the number, still should rank them out pretty close.

If we were doing a study, the top fig wins this many etc, then not having the pedigree info would matter.

I doubt anyone ever uses any of this that way, and it should still Group the contenders.

I opt for the Bris figures , because I believe the extra 50 cents is worth the extra info as to Dirt/Turf and Distance Pedigree.

You do have the correct version of the program, the small (d) after the F.I.G. is the tip off to that since I added that in when I did the last update.

[dartman51]

Correct, the 50 cent TSN file does not include Pedigree figures and alters the "look" of the number, still should rank them out pretty close.

If we were doing a study, the top fig wins this many etc, then not having the pedigree info would matter.

I doubt anyone ever uses any of this that way, and it should still Group the contenders.

I opt for the Bris figures , because I believe the extra 50 cents is worth the extra info as to Dirt/Turf and Distance Pedigree.

You do have the correct version of the program, the small (d) after the F.I.G. is the tip off to that since I added that in when I did the last update.

Actually, I use the PROCAP files. I guess they don't have the PED numbers either?

[fight]

dart i use drf drew new program also 5 pace lines #13 126 #2 and #15 116 can you get the same? ty

[douglasw32]

Procap may have them but maybe in a different place, never used those, to $$$ rich for my blood each day =)

[dartman51]

Procap may have them but maybe in a different place, never used those, to $$$ rich for my blood each day =)

If you download only 2 tracks every day from BRIS, you will save money with TSN. $59.95 TSN Advantage Plan, you get UNLIMITED Quick Play PP's, unlimited Insider Picks & Power Plays Selection Sheets, and unlimited ProCAPS software datafiles, and exotic result files
If you are into building databases and downloading a lot of tracks, it's the only way to go. JMHO.

[dartman51]

dart i use drf drew new program also 5 pace lines #13 126 #2 and #15 116 can you get the same? ty

I just downloaded the BRIS file and ran it through, and yes, I get 126 for #13, and 116 for #15

[douglasw32]

If anyone has troble(vusta) with a comm file not being found run this.
http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe

And the program should work after that.

[cloud9]

doug. I looked at your report of the updated Beta version of fast and noticed their is no pluses in any of the horses final scores . Your not using them in your updated Fast program any longer ?

[douglasw32]

SOrry working on that, where the plus was the number was meant to BOLD and it didn't when I get the weekend away from the day job I plan on fixing it up

[chrisl]

Hello Doug:I downloaded your new version and when I open it, I get turbo tax its deductable 2006 down loading?

[douglasw32]

WOW, something is up with your PC.
All the program is is a VB compiled program zipped up into a self extracting archive.

It would not register, install or download anything.
And your sure you were here..

http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

[fight]

wow 5 out of 6 ex top 3 at ch one paid 242.00

[fight]

6-7 ex :jump:

[fight]

8th 4-11 tie for top 135 tie for 2nd choice ex 140.60

[fight]

top choice win but no ex :bang:

[douglasw32]

It is loving the mud

[fight]

10th ex 6-8 36.00 :jump:

[fight]

derby ex out

[fight]

12th out
13th 73.00 :jump: :jump:

[douglasw32]

Hey Fight...Thanks for the acid test =)

[fight]

doug is there a way to rank bottom right #s automaticlly in stead of looking at each one ? makes it easier. ty

[douglasw32]

I think I can pull that off, let me try.

[fight]

ch
1st 3-4-tie 156 ex 74.00
2nd 6-1-2
3rd tie 3-5-6
4th 635
5th 6-3 tie 24
6th 7-2-12
7th 3-tie24
8th 5-1-3
9th 4-tie 1-3

[dartman51]

Using TSN PROCAPS, I come up with the following at CD

R1>3,4,1
R2>6,1,tie 3,5
R3>5,tie 3,6
R4>8,3,5
R5>6,3,4
R6>9,2,12
R7>3,4,tie 2,6
R8>1,3,4
R9>4, tie 2,6,10

[fight]

1st 517
2nd 143
3rd 654
4th 65 tie 1-3
5th 1 tie 278
6th 749
7th 235
8th tie 34-2

[douglasw32]

Hey I almost have a the newest updates done based on all of the GREAT ! feedback I have gotten since releasing it.

I really really have seen improvement in the numbers, enhanced the class rating, allow you to look back up to 10 races instead of just 3, ratings for Mud, Turf and Dirt/Synthetic

Some new formatting...

I will try to get it done (polished up) before the weekend

[fight]

were you able to put #s in order?

[douglasw32]

Sort of, not in the Past Perf, But I got it ot print a simple summary page at the end of them Like Bris does, that Orders them.

The report is Longer but you could just actually print out either/or

[fight]

bring on that polished new fast iam jonesin.

[douglasw32]

Okay it is there, the LEGEND is wrong now, the additions are labelled, Frm=Form Points, a=all weather, m= mud (off), t=Turf, d= dirt

I did not get past chossing up to 5 races, and I did not get the summary or sort of numbers done.

Let's see how the weekend does.

May still go through some tweaks but check it out... feedback appreciated =)
http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

It will say V 6.0 on the report.

[Pcon04]

Douglas
where is the summary page.Is there an option to turn it on..??

P

[clockerwalker]

He states very clearly has not got summary ready yet.

[Pcon04]

oops !!! sorry !!!

pcon

[douglasw32]

No Problem, I am working On it, funny how very very hard that is....
The thing that sounds easiest.

[chrisl]

Very nice job Doug, Thanks for sharing this with us here. How would a person figure the class level of the race today, to size it with your avg class level number. Thank you Chris,

[chrisl]

I downloaded the program this morning, from the above link. It is still saying V5.7 on the print out. Chris

[Tom]

Going to try it out this weekend, Doug...thanks for sharing.

[douglasw32]

OKay hold on let me double che3ck what I uploaded...

it should say 6.0

Also I actaully do this with the class rating, after scratches, I average the top 3, I look for the ones that ran better than that class average in there speed figures, since it is all pretty much on the same scale.

Okay I re-uploaded & double checked the one on the site is up to date and what I will be using today.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

[douglasw32]

I see what I did wrong, you are correct.

NOW as of 12:28 est the correct one has been uploaded to the links above.

Also to verify you have the current one this is a link to the one for BELMONT today that I ran.

http://localpcpros.com/bel.htm

Program- http://localpcpros.com/FAST.exe

[douglasw32]

Tom- It works great at you favorite track, I am right down the road in Horseheads,

[fight]

example holly the #s i look fot bottom right are A AND T ON TURF CORRECT?

[douglasw32]

A= All Weather
T= Turf
M=Mud
D=Dirt

All have distance taken into account.

The final number includes the Class and Form points, among other things listed, ep, lp average last 3 etc.

[razorback23]

Doug,
I tried to download and run your software and keep getting an error. "Component 'COMDLG32.OCX' or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered: A file is missing or invalid." I'm new to posting on this board but have been reading it for sometime now. I have been handicapping using a form for the last 18 years and now I'm interested in software handicapping. Thanks for taking your time out to help. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing it. I also tried installing the two programs from windows. None of this worked.

[applebee]

Doug,
I tried to download and run your software and keep getting an error. "Component 'COMDLG32.OCX' or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered: A file is missing or invalid." I'm new to posting on this board but have been reading it for sometime now. I have been handicapping using a form for the last 18 years and now I'm interested in software handicapping. Thanks for taking your time out to help. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing it. I also tried installing the two programs from windows. None of this worked.

go here and follow the directions if problems post back.http://www.sdsoftwaregroup.com/tableofcontents/sdDarts/troubleshooting/troubleshooting02.asp

[douglasw32]

http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe

Run this, it should register the proper files.

Applebee is correct if my solution does not fix it.
make sure you are an administrator, and restart before running it.

[douglasw32]

Thank You all for bearing with me, I put up another update the last one, although it worked fine, had the final figure too "Tight" and made it very hard to seperate contenders.

The newest and hopefully LAST update has a new url also
to make getting the newest on less confusing.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

The only thing I am still working on is a summary page sorted by each type of surface.

[chrisl]

Hello Doug: Thank you again. One Q's your ep and lp number, is it for the horse or the leader at the respected calls, giving the race pace not the horse pace. Thank you. Chris

[douglasw32]

Horse pace right out of the bris file, no adjustment etc.

[chrisl]

Thanks Doug. Chris

[douglasw32]

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

OKAY :bang:

Anyone following along by now knows the Drill.

Thanks to some keen eyes the Maiden FTS were being ranked to high, and I could not help but throw in a littl PCR (Performance Class Rating/William Scott) to go along with the Form Points.

Find them (The Form points/PCR) right before the final F.A.S.T. figure(s), Bottom right labeled (a,t,m,d)

Any other ideas ???

Worked well at MNR (didn't expect that one)

Anyone who wanted the source code, it is at http://localpcpros.com/source.rar
Use the free winrar to extract it. http://www.rarsoft.com/
It is in Visual Basic 6. In case someone can not open it here is a text file of the code. http://localpcpros.com/source.txt

[douglasw32]

05/13/2009 Belmont for verification.
http://localpcpros.com/belmont.pdf

BTW- hint, when you print like I do to the free Bullzip PDF printer from the internet browser, since the report is in HTML
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Be sure to go to...

Tools->Internet Options->Advanced, scroll to PRINTING
checkbox, "Print background Images and Colors"

Also this is a great PDF tool for "Marking Up the PDF"
http://www.docu-track.com/downloads/users/
Get the free pdfXchange viewer.

[chrisl]

The PCR ratings Where would some info on these be. Negative number no good, high numbers good. Thanks Chris

[douglasw32]

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Victory-Track-Promise-Performance/dp/0897091833

Total Victory at the Track: The Promise and the Performance

by William L. Scott (/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=William%20L.%20Scott)


In short it is an adjusted rating based on the position at the 1st call, the position at the final call, the class level of the race involved and against how many horses were in the race.

Gives a number like 123,134,100 etc... I subtract the base 100 from it, and only use the last 5 not 10 races back.

And yes the higher the better.

[Speed Figure]

PCR uses the 2nd and final call.

[douglasw32]

Sorry, speed figure is correct 2nd call not 1st... no coffee yet =)

[Light]

How about being able to select a single paceline of your choosing?

[fight]

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Victory...e/dp/0897091833

Total Victory at the Track: The Promise and the Performance

by William L. Scott


In short it is an adjusted rating based on the position at the 1st call, the position at the final call, the class level of the race involved and against how many horses were in the race.

Gives a number like 123,134,100 etc... I subtract the base 100 from it, and only use the last 5 not 10 races back.

And yes the higher the better.
__________________
doug where is this item located?
is it the 12/26 ex here
12/-26 135a 135t 136m 99d

[cloud9]

doug .

Your are making so many new changes to this program that its getting a bit confusing . A read me page that explains all the numbers would be great .
Thanks for giving us this nice program .

[douglasw32]

Light, that would be great but way beyond my amature hour programming abilities...

And yes I am working on a better "Legend" to explain it all again.

Sorry if everyone is getting sick of re-downloading, I am trying to stop, but I got so many doable ideas I could not resist the temptation.

Like I said this is all I use so I keep tweaking it.

on that note I made some adjustment to "MY version of" PCR.

so here we go again.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

it had the winner in all but 2 maiden races at belmont in the top 3 with no other handicapping today...so I really think I better just leave it alone. I can not expect much more.

the pcr is after the form points right to the left of all the different final numbers on the bottom right.

like workout, workout, 12/22, 98a, 99t,97m,101d

the 12 is form, the 22 is PCR.

again sorry to be a pain, and I will most likely leave it this way now.
and update the legend soon.

:bang:

another tip: With the way it calculates that final number if one of the last 3 speed figures is crap for a reason, well below the others or very high for a bad or freak race, take the final fig with a grain of salt and look to the form and pcr ratings, I take the bad race difference from the good races and add it into the figure.

[dartman51]

Don't worry about the repeated downloads. I aplaud your hard work to make this thing better. We should all be so dedicated. Thank you.

TS

[fight]

where the 12/22 was now with the new download i get like 2frm no 12/26 is this correct? ty

[douglasw32]

From my "Day Job" I can access this site but not youbet, drf or equibase. =)

If Anyone wants to post results of the top 3, I enjoy looking in to see how it is working ?

[douglasw32]

Nope that 2frm is the older version without the pcr addition.

go here. http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

Download, clikc install, it will overwrite the FAST folder, open the folder click on the FAST.EXE and the new report will show the change.

[douglasw32]

Here is a link to the current programs take on the Preakness, to compare you have the newest update.

http://localpcpros.com/preakness.pdf

[dartman51]

Here is a link to the current programs take on the Preakness, to compare you have the newest update.

http://localpcpros.com/preakness.pdf

Doug,

What data source are you using and what are you setting the # of races at??

[dartman51]

I just noticed that I don't have a PCR # comming up. It is reading 0. Could this be due to the fact that I use TSN files and not BRIS?

[douglasw32]

Yep, a few of the "Features" will only work with the BRIS file not the TSN one, the TSN =(

I may be able to correct that ?

but some of the data used is not available in the tsn file, but I may be able to find a way around it.

[fight]

ap 1st top# 25.60

[fight]

top choice only
1st win 25.60
2nd 2nd
3rd out
4th win 14.00

[fight]

5th out
6th out
7th 9.00

[douglasw32]

WOW THanks, see thats cool, I rarely use it on anything other than NYRA

I got another one of those TUITION PAYING (betting) Lessons learned the hard way.

On turf, the turf figure puts the horse out of my normal top 4 range...but,
the dirt figure is the BEST, horse never ran on the turf, his number was low because the pedigree figure said he could not do it, and PRESTO the dirt horse loves the turf and kills the top Turf horse at 10-1

[fight]

are you talking about 1st at arl today it was all weather ?

[douglasw32]

No Belmonts 8th yesterday with Prado up.

[douglasw32]

For what it is worth:

The Preakness offers a good example of not Blindly taking the top Number ...

The Derby...

"his 42 1/2-length loss in the Derby may be deceiving since he had a tough journey, suffered minor leg cuts and was eased up by jockey Gabreil Saez. Trainer Larry Jones said Freisan Fire's leg injuries healed quickly due to the use of Eclipse, a cream made for diabetic patients with wounds that are slow to heal"

The 64 Speed Figure (Bris) compared to his average best 2 of last 5, puts him 12-13 points higher than his dirt F.A.S.T. figure.

making it a 116 the 2nd best behind the filly.
Both his form points and PCR would also be higher if you toss the derby, but his class would rank lower so it would be a wash.

I think it is a fair adjustment and will be my play.

[douglasw32]

I should explain, the main part of the figure is the last 3 speed figures, taking the difference between the bad race (I am willing to toss) and the average he recently ran and dividing it by 3 is how I arrive at the 12 point adjustment.

[chrisl]

Anyone have any tips on how to print these sheets with a page break between horses. Thank You Chris

[douglasw32]

No but...

In internet explorer, since it is an html file that is generated and opens, if you go to tools->internet options->advanced and scroll to printing, check "PRINT BACKGROUND COLORS AND IMAGES"

Then it will look the way you see it on your screen, as for page breaks between, I think I see a new programming change coming ....

I could give three choices for the report easy enough.

Break between each hors, each race, or just print (Page saver) ????

How does that sound ?

[chrisl]

That would be the SH%& Doug. This software is going way over top. Thank You Chrisl

[jcrabboy]

I have been following these posts and gather you are working on a summary printout. I am not sure about programming difficulty, but it seems a simple approach would be to have a toggle function between print options.

For the summary printout just remove the past performance lines. Should save a ton of paper while providing the majority of the salient handicapping info.

I don't know if this is doable as I am not close to being a programmer.

I think your willingness to share with others is admirable.

Jimmie

[douglasw32]

Thanks jcrabboy... believe it or not I am not close to being a programmer either, but everything I learned to pull this off was found here and on google.

I agree, the final print should be easy to set up so the end user can choose how to print the information, and I am working on a summary. Like bris has.

[off'nclear]

I'm embarrassed that my first post is to announce that my computer skills are sadly lacking and I now need help.

I've been impressed with your program from the beginning. Just downloaded the latest and now when I Choose A File, I get MY Documents.

Obviously I don't know what I did wrong. Help?

[douglasw32]

Did you download the files above for the visual basic runtimes and the other one to register the files needed. is it xp or vista?
if so what SP? (service pack)

it is a very simplistic program but it was doing that to meonce also, let me look at the code.

[off'nclear]

Sure glad I don't have to admit who I am!

No, I didn't get the aforementioned things. I'd honestly forgotten them.

Vista Home Premium 2007, Service Pack 1, 32 bit operating system.

Is the logical thing to start over and get each thing in succession?

[douglasw32]

No Sweat...
DOT NET should allready be on Vista so it will most likely fail to install, if you do try it.

The other two would not hurt.

(dot) net
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en)
and/or

VB runtimes
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192461 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192461)

Register some common dll's
http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe (http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe)

I do not think it is a vista thing, I am running it on Vista, but I also have visual basic installed, so most likely, running these last two links above will correct it, if not let me know again and I will "hard code" the path.

[off'nclear]

just Saved Target AS and it wanted to go to documents. Changed that to desktop, but it did seem strange.

Where do I put the two extras so your program can use them?

[douglasw32]

hmmm...

Well if you click on the links and save each one to the desktop...
then just execute them they will just run and add things that should allready be on most windows systems.

then if you saved the FAST6.exe to the desktop and Execute that, it will decompress everything into a folder called FAST

you can then delete everything downloaded accept that FAST FOLDER

open the FAST folder and execute the FAST PPs.exe (the program)

then it should work.

Let me know what happens then.

[off'nclear]

All worked fine. Now, if AZ would let us use phone or internet, we could try this out for real rather than just having fun with it.

Thank you again.

[douglasw32]

Can't help with that one =) I am glad you got it to work.

[jcrabboy]

I haven't used them in a long time, but eHorse might take your action.

Jimmie

All worked fine. Now, if AZ would let us use phone or internet, we could try this out for real rather than just having fun with it.

Thank you again.

[fight]

todays hollywood 21st i get a runtime error 11 all other cards work. ty also it works in other programs using bris files . it says division by zero

[douglasw32]

Great it is a bug of some sort, I will download that card and figure it out, is it a bris file drf or the TSN 50 cent, for Hollywood ?

[fight]

1 $ bris

[douglasw32]

Thanks Fight, fixed...

So Everyone needs to go get it again.


Nothing changed just fixed the "Bug"

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

[off'nclear]

Started to thank Jimmie (hope spelled correctly) for the suggestion, touched something on the keyboard, and lost it. We're a bit (really a lot) leery. I've been lurking here for several years and remembered a thread of horror stories about collecting funds. Searched that. I admit I didn't read all of it to see if things worked out. Will do that when all you wonderful people stop writing such informative and/or funny stuff that keeps me occupied for hours on end. The toner and paper companies appreciate your efforts, too.

[AAcoolguy]

I downloaded the "fix" and lost the "Scott" numbers, one of the parts I was following. I recall that these numbers were supposed to be used with the three lowest odds horses (if I recall correctly) and bet to place. It was doing ok at Hollywood.

[AAcoolguy]

Ok I went back a couple of posts and re-downloaded everything from that link and everything is there now, even the ability to open the 5-21 Hollywood file. Thanks for all of your hard work.

[fight]

where are thay located?

[AAcoolguy]

The Scott #s are on the bottom row, there is a set of numbers seperated by a slash. The first number is the form number and the second number is the Scott number.

[fight]

is that the 3 lowest odds at post time? what else do you look at? ty

[cloud9]

douglasw.

Are you still going to have a read me showing all the changes you made to the FAST software ?

[douglasw32]

Yes as soon as I can get time...my mom is recovering from an esophagus removal ... And I am helping...but soon

[AAcoolguy]

is that the 3 lowest odds at post time? what else do you look at? ty

I read the book quite awhile ago but from what I can remember you use the three lowest odds horses at post time, of the three the one with the highest (Scott) number is bet to place. Also I have noticed the low M/L horses doing well too.

I am sure there is more to it but hey!

[jcrabboy]

Family first for sure. The races will still be here once your mom is back on her feet. Hope she gets well soon.

Jimmie

Yes as soon as I can get time...my mom is recovering from an esophagus removal ... And I am helping...but soon

[jcrabboy]

Hi AAcoolguy:
The PCR's were developed by William Scott. He used them to Identify the initial 3 or 4 contenders in a race. They were first presented in the book: Total Victory at the Track. Doug is providing the PCR totals. The number in its raw form is in parts and can be used to quickly identify running styles, etc.

William Scott used the top 3 post time favorites in an earlier work: Investing at the Track. In that book he introduced ability times, which continue to be used by many handicappers.

Hope this helps clarify the number.

Jimmie

I read the book quite awhile ago but from what I can remember you use the three lowest odds horses at post time, of the three the one with the highest (Scott) number is bet to place. Also I have noticed the low M/L horses doing well too.

I am sure there is more to it but hey!

[douglasw32]

And the total I have is not "To the Letter" from scott, it is using the BRIS, class of race, not the +1, +2 +3 like scott did.

So it will not be an exact match numberwise to his work, but it is his gem.

The form points are also from his work and a few others.

So the F.A.S.T. figure has all of that wrapped up in it, including the Class Rating, Pedigree, Speed at the distance, Last race Turn Time, etc etc etc.

[jcrabboy]

Hi Doug:
I wondered about the composition of the form points. Did you use any of Tom Hambleton's work on form points? I think most of Scott's form work is still applicable especially at classier tracks.

Jimmie

[douglasw32]

Actually, Yes I did use bits from both and s few statistical studies on the factors they used so I could rank out some value to make a figure.

If say overall all horses, all tracks, had 80% wins if a 5f work was in the last 15 days.

And any horse who was ITM in the last 2 races won 60%

Only looking at things producing 50% or more win% ( nothing to fancy like ROI vs Win %, or Impact Value etc) just quick and dirty, I give the work factor 3 point, the itm factor 2 points and if they did not have eithe 1 point each, etc... hard to explain but I got it working.

When I get to the legend I will point out what makes the Form Points, the PCR the Class Rating and the overall F.A.S.T figures.

[AAcoolguy]

Hi AAcoolguy:
The PCR's were developed by William Scott. He used them to Identify the initial 3 or 4 contenders in a race. They were first presented in the book: Total Victory at the Track. Doug is providing the PCR totals. The number in its raw form is in parts and can be used to quickly identify running styles, etc.

William Scott used the top 3 post time favorites in an earlier work: Investing at the Track. In that book he introduced ability times, which continue to be used by many handicappers.

Hope this helps clarify the number.

Jimmie

Investing at the track was one of the very first handicapping books I read. That was several years ago, all I knew for sure was that Scott had some numbers and that he used them with the first three odds horses, thanks for clearing that up.

[acorn54]

Investing at the track was one of the very first handicapping books I read. That was several years ago, all I knew for sure was that Scott had some numbers and that he used them with the first three odds horses, thanks for clearing that up.


yeah scott in his book said his system made money using his numbers. turned out to be a farce, his numbers are just mumbo jumbo as far as i'm concerned. but go ahead and use them, i'll use cj numbers thank you very much.

[AAcoolguy]

yeah scott in his book said his system made money using his numbers. turned out to be a farce, his numbers are just mumbo jumbo as far as i'm concerned. but go ahead and use them, i'll use cj numbers thank you very much.

That's great Acorn, maybe you should start another thread called "CJ's numbers are better". Until CJ opens up the availability of his numbers to anymore handicappers we are just going to have to make due with the "inferior" numbers. :ThmbUp:

[acorn54]

That's great Acorn, maybe you should start another thread called "CJ's numbers are better". Until CJ opens up the availability of his numbers to anymore handicappers we are just going to have to make due with the "inferior" numbers. :ThmbUp:


i was just bringing up the point that there is no point in using scott's numbers. it's true cj's numbers are closed out, but one would probably be better off making one's own figs/ratings than following others that are inferior just because they are popular.

[AAcoolguy]

i was just bringing up the point that there is no point in using scott's numbers. it's true cj's numbers are closed out, but one would probably be better off making one's own figs/ratings than following others that are inferior just because they are popular.

...about making my own figures instead of the Scott numbers. Doug has corrected me stating that his final F.A.S.T. figure is a compilation of all of the figures in HIS software and is more than likely head and shoulders above the Scott numbers. My point was that this thread is not about CJ's numbers, and I'm sure they are great, but Doug has spent a lot of time and effort on this project and he deserves the respect of all those using his program and those on this site.

[douglasw32]

Oh I did forget to mention anywhere in this thread...when you click on download and grab a DRF single file it is "Zipped", compressed...and the *.drf file the program needsis inside it.

In windows you right click and choose Extract, then when you choose file navigate to this extracted location to choose the file.

Also a number of 3rd party tools, like winzip , winrar, etc to extract the drf file.

Sorry if this was a point of confusion.

Also Scott's Numbers, CJ's, My Home grown mess, The Sheets, RsPos, etc etc etc etc to infinity, is comparing (in my opinion) apples and oranges, they are all fruit, some folks like the oranges, others like apples, every now and then there is a lemon and sometimes a crafty person can even find a way to make lemonade out of it.

They are all tools, adn in the right hands all of them get us where we are going.

[AAcoolguy]

Here's a little trick that I figured out. I have been using the Neurax files from BRIS for their Neurax program. If you unzip the Neurax file it is labled as .NRX, if you rename the unzipped file .DRF it will work just fine with the FAST program. This saves me from buying two different files. It also works with other programs that use the $1.00 DRF files from BRIS.

[douglasw32]

Acoolguy..That is "Cool", no pun intended !

I have been drilling away at the final version with a good set of directions and explanation of what makes each figure, I really do not see it working well with the TSN files (it will open them, but...).

your trick is a good one to know about.

I improved the Class Rating and that of course has improved the final F.A.S.T. rating.

Made it filter junk when it was not needed, like duplicate figs in the turf/mud/AW area.

It will not be completely ready until I can get to pulling a secondary Summary Report.

But I am close.

[douglasw32]

http://localpcpros.com/BEL0603.pdf

The NEW SUMMARY !
(Key to the heading abbreviations is at the very bottom of the report)

http://localpcpros.com/bel0603long.pdf

The normal one from the program everyone has (If using newest version)

[chrisl]

SWEET Doug Nice job. Would there be page breaks in the printing of these.
great job on your efforts. Chrisl

[douglasw32]

Not yest, it would still be on straight line of printing...

I will try to add in page breaks this evening.

[chrisl]

Thank you Doug Chrisl

[fight]

its very nice. when do we get it?

[jcrabboy]

Very nice job. Have you considered including the Morning Line on the summary? It helps for those who wager Early.

Jimmie

[douglasw32]

As soon as I can package it all up...I can fit ml odds in

[AAcoolguy]

http://localpcpros.com/BEL0603.pdf

The NEW SUMMARY !
(Key to the heading abbreviations is at the very bottom of the report)

http://localpcpros.com/bel0603long.pdf

The normal one from the program everyone has (If using newest version)

Wow I really like the summary, to tell you the truth, thats all I really need!

What are talking about "normal one"? Did I miss something?

[douglasw32]

Got the Morning Line in and fixed some Bugs.

The "Normal one" is further up in the post... I was refering to the Free Program itself and the report it produces that are full PP's.

I am going to package them both together this evening so it is done for Belmonts big day.

If the kids leave me alone for an hour ;)

[douglasw32]

I still need to fix the LEGEND for the Full PP's but here it is with the summary.

Note: the summary need to be printed as LANDSCAPE not PORTRAIT (click on preferences when the print box comes up)

The full should be printed as portrait and should be the default.

Here are links to the final print in PDF.

http://localpcpros.com/BELFULL.pdf

and

http://localpcpros.com/BELSUMMARY.pdf

The summary has page breaks, the Full PP's does not as it created way way too many pages.

Both come out about the same number of pages this way.

Here is the Program:

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

It opens with less steps, in the future I hope to get the legend done (soon) and the scratches to be automatic (someday)

Thanks for all the feedback and help !

If it does not work try adding these to your system....

(dot) net
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en)

VB runtimes
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192461

Library files
http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/libraryfiles.exe

BTW- hint, when you print like I do to the free Bullzip PDF printer from the internet browser, since the report is in HTML
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Be sure to go to...

Tools->Internet Options->Advanced, scroll to PRINTING
checkbox, "Print background Images and Colors"

Even if you are printing to a "real" printer.

Also this is a great PDF tool for "Marking Up the PDF"
http://www.docu-track.com/downloads/users/
Get the free pdfXchange viewer.

This was all tested when opened in Internet Explorer 8 set as the default browser on 32 bit Vista.

The Pace Advantage Toolbar is here (no spyware)
http://handicappers.ourtoolbar.com/

This is ALL FREE.

[fight]

is fast #s better than surface #s or is it a guess? ty great job fight

[douglasw32]

Yes.

The surface ones are just used as a guage to enhance or tear down the FAST.

Think of it like Early Speed Points and 2F Pace Figures.

One gives you How likely it is the horse grabs the lead, One tells you how fast the horse runs on the lead.

Same thing here, F.A.S.T. is a performance figure with the Recent Early, Late and Turn Times, the Final speed and the recent class, the Surface Should be used to BOOST up or DROP out the F.A.S.T Figure.

On the full PP's I do not even list the Dirt figure since most of the numbers making up the FAST figure are from dirt (The most common surface) but on the Summary I wanted it there in case we had a bunch of Turf horses going to Dirt...etc..

On Both sheets the final part that ties them together is still the Form points and PC Rating, again I look at a good fig low in these two sections (not wrapped up in the FAST figure) with a grain of salt.

After that it is on to the average Early Pace and Average Late Pace on the Summary along With the Running Style and Early Speed tendency...I usually double check the averages by looking at the Full PP's and making sure there is not some fluke causing a low average, I do the same with the Speed figures on the Full pp's since it can affect the FAST figure itself.

I hope that helps.

[fight]

just one more question fm and pc higher # the better correct?

[fight]

yes i see the high is best. but will scratches put in changr the fast #s?

[douglasw32]

Scratches do not affect any of the figures.
And everything is better if higher

[Pcon04]

Hello Douglas

I have a question why would you need or want page breaks

in the summary.? it looks like its 13 pages with 1 summary on each

Page for Belmont today.It looks good nice job.I can see page breaks

on the full one though..maybe i'm doing something wrong..

Thanks for your work and help

Pcon

[douglasw32]

Yeah, I still can ot get it right =( and it was late last night so I had the silly idea it was done.

I was trying to get it to break anytime it hit the bottom and ran out of room so it did not split the horses data between pages.

I'll have to tackle it later

[Pcon04]

Dougls
If it's a pain for you!!
what if you just eliminated it??..what's the worst that can happen?


Pcon

[clockerwalker]

Thank you for your hard work Doug.

[douglasw32]

It is sort of a need to figure it out type thing... since I got this far, not knowing anything about programming, ya know?

Other than that taking out the poage breaks, splits the summary over 2 pages and makes me insane, since the point of it for me is to be able to "LOOK" at the whole race, and I lose some type of rythm when I get to the 3rd horse and the other 7 are on another page.

[dartman51]

Doug,

Even though I don't use the DRF files, I find that your program is still outstanding. With the TSN files, as you know, I don't get a PC number. BUT, your turf, mud and dirt ratings are nothing short of amazing. It has been KILLER today at ALL tracks, on ALL conditions. FYI, I find the TURF ratings work well on the POLY.

THANKS AGAIN, for such a GREAT program, and your generosity.

Tom

[douglasw32]

The PCR is not in those figures, and I was meaning to make that work with the TSN file...I forgot, Thanks and I will work on getting both files work better.

[douglasw32]

There I was motivated, thats fixed now the tsn files will show the pcr

I also rearanged some stuff that was making me crazy so they line up in order on both sheets.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe

You all knwo the drill...

[jcrabboy]

It is sort of a need to figure it out type thing... since I got this far, not knowing anything about programming, ya know?

Other than that taking out the poage breaks, splits the summary over 2 pages and makes me insane, since the point of it for me is to be able to "LOOK" at the whole race, and I lose some type of rythm when I get to the 3rd horse and the other 7 are on another page.

I had a programmer work on a program for me and page breaks became an issue. I finally elected to go with portrait printing and 2 races per page. This on average will give you a 5 page printout, which will still save a few trees. I don't know if this is feasible with your program, but it did solve my problem.

Jimmie

[Viruss]

Hello Doug

First off i would like to thank you for posting your program, and taking you time to rework everything in it..The summary page is super thank you..


Earl J

[Roger]

Great job Doug.....Remarkable surface figures, and thank's for working in the pc figure with the TSN files. Summary looks great! and the Morning line too.

Roger,

[douglasw32]

I am glad everyone is putting up with amature hour with the updates, it has become a community program (that's cool) =)

I had it pointed out by email that the TSN download was gone, from the main program interfeace.. it is back now.

http://localpcpros.com/FAST6.exe


Thanks for all of the feedback .

jcrabboy: Might be a good workaround..

[douglasw32]

I am going to start a new post for the "REAL" final version.

Maybe someone could close this one ?

It will be Called FREE PROGRAM FINAL VERSION